Resources on Islamic Investment, Banking, Finance and Insurance

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The Seattle Times has an article about Muslims in the USA veering away from interest in home and car loans. It is titled Faith and Finance collide for Muslim home buyers.The article mentions Lariba, and Professor Mahmoud El Gamal of Rice University

On March 19, 2005, the Toronto Star has an article, Person Of No Interest, on Muslims avoiding insterest and Sharia compliant financial products in Canada. The article mentions UM Financial, Islamic Cooperative Housing Corp., and the Royal Bank of Canada as providers of Islamically acceptable services.

NPR has a February 10, 2005 radio report (audio in link) discussing how under Shariah, the laws of Islam, Muslims are forbidden to charge or pay interest. Now, some American banks are finding ways around the restrictions by offering Koran-compatible services.

Chicago Tribune has an article, Feb 6 2005, titled 'Faith, finance': Two city banks offer devout Muslims a way to buy homes without violating usury beliefs'. It covers the attempts of two banks to cater for Muslim needs in house financing.

AMEInfo reports on a new product by the Royal Bank of Canada for Muslim investors.The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has announced a new investment opportunitytailored specifically to meet the special requirements of Muslims.Available to Muslim-Canadian customers, the RBC Shariah-CompliantEquity-Linked Note has been introduced after an extensive period ofresearch and consultation, and is supported by a fatwah, confirming itssuitability, issued by three prominent Islamic scholars. The note, which matures in approximately five and a half years, is thefirst of its kind in Canada, and is designed to provide a competitiveinvestment opportunity compatible with the precepts of Islamic law. RBCprotects the capital investment if the note is held to maturity, withpotential returns calculated using the percentage change in value of theunderlying equity basket.